CROOKED MOUTH – DECAY – CD

Description

Decay was recorded across southern British Columbia in the years 2014-2016.

This album is inspired the direct paternal ancestors of Clan Campbell, who strove to begin a new life in the Dominion of Canada. It is dedicated to them.

The songs were principally performed by Crooked Mouth, with S.P. Haché contributing flute wherever it is heard, and guitar on the final track. They would also like the thank Scythe Bearer for the use of his musical/magickal tools. This album was mastered, with great generosity, by Nathaniel Ritter (Knit Her, Wreathes).

“Here Come the Navvies” was written by Ian Campbell (R.I.P) and first recorded by The Ian Campbell Folk Group in 1969 on their eponymous album. A few lyrics have been changed from the original version.

Released by Shadow of the Stone Recordings (BC) on CD and Brave Mysteries Recording Company (WI) on cassette in 2017.

“The majestic northern soul of Crooked Mouth squares our shoulders and uplifts our hearts with their finest offering to date. Decay is rich and mature, smelling of salt and soil. The ocean size bluster of side A, blows deftly through the scene with an upright and regal songcraft. Ian Campbell authors a songbook of focused and intimate originality which shines brighter than so many rehashed tropes. Foregoing the typical occult posturing and other sinister themes for a genuinely personal experience, the entire album brims with the heat of the hearth. A modest sense of ancestral pride, childhood nostalgia and homebound gratitude all well up from the atmosphere of this album. Side B sees our journeyman tear off his clothes to plunge over the rapids and land effortlessly into the kind of heart-opening grooves that have made the high northwest regions famous, one generation after the next. Irish folk tunes meet post-industrial grit, tribal confidence and stirring Pacific dirge all wrapped in flannel and swollen with beer, stumbling in song with echoes bounding throughout the night and burning deeply together beneath a filter of giant fir trees. The arms of the mountain call you home.” – Clay Ruby (reviewing the cassette version)